Shoulder Seasons during Archery...

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http://www.greatfallstribune.com/st...son-called-success-despite-problems/78813982/

Extended elk season called success despite problems

Karl Puckett, [email protected]

Extending the elk hunting season in five areas of northcentral Montana hasn’t been without problems, with an overwhelmed phone system being one due to thousands of calls from interested hunters, said John Vore, chief of Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ Game Management Bureau.

But overall, the season has been successful, with at least 350 elk being shot to date, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“I would say it’s been a big success,” Vore said.
Vore updated the Fish and Wildlife Commission on Thursday on the so-called shoulder seasons, which began the day after the regular season Nov. 29 and will continue until Feb. 15 in hunting districts around White Sulphur Springs and Cascade targeting excess cow elk on private lands causing damage.

There have been problems, but overall FWP is pleased with the results to date, Vore said.

FWP hasn’t officially tabulated harvest data from the extended season, but 350 to 400 elk have been shot to date based on anecdotal evidence, he said. “Which we’re very happy with.”

However, one flaw was that the high number of telephone calls from hunters seeking information about the shoulder season overwhelmed FWP’s phone lines, he said.

“To say there’s a lot of interest is a gross understatement,” Vore added.

The first few days, 10,000 calls poured into 11 phone lines at the FWP Region 4 headquarters in Great Falls in addition to lines at White Sulphur Springs, he said.
“There is no way they could keep up,” he said.

An average of 5,000 calls a day were made for the next couple of weeks.

Some hunters who called to get information on what a shoulder season was and how they could participate could not get through and became frustrated, Vore said.
The extra workload has overwhelmed staff, Vore said.
Dealing with the outpouring of interest needs to be dealt with if shoulder seasons are expanded statewide, which the commission is now considering.

Another lesson from the extended season is that meetings with landowners before the seasons begin are critical.

“Landowners have provided excellent access, which is why it’s worked as well as it has,” Vore said.
In Hunting District 445 in the Cascade areas, 2,500 calls were made to participating landowners.
Some of landowners changed their phone numbers to stop the calls, Vore said.

The commission approved the extended seasons on a pilot basis in Region 4 hunting districts 445 in the Cascade area, 446 and 452 in the White Sulphur Springs area, 449 north of Martinsdale and 410 north of Winnett in the Missouri River Breaks.

The goal was to allow extra time to hunt in order to reduce cow elk populations that are too high in some areas on private land. The seasons were meant to reduce the damage elk are causing while giving hunters more opportunities to shoot an elk.

Not much participation has occurred in Hunting District 410 in the Missouri River Breaks, Vore said.
Most of the participation has been in hunting districts around White Sulphur Springs, he said.

The influx of hunters has been a big boost for businesses there, Vore said.

An FWP biologist who walked into one local business was greeted with a hug from an owner, Vore said.
Commissioners said they’ve heard concerns from some of their constituents about expanding shoulder seasons statewide.

Matthew Tourtlotte, District 5 commissioner from Billings, said some people are concerned about elk hunting occurring too many months out of the year.

“There certainly is an ethical consideration for the department to consider,” he said.

 

[Bugle 'Em In]

I'm guessing the budget woes for FWP will deepen after they get a state of the art phone system to handle the Shoulder Season calls.

 

[antlerradar]

Just a couple of nits to pick.

Calves in August are fully functioning ruminants and will survive without mom.

No one ever gave a shit about cows with fetuses during the Gardiner and Gallatin late hunts back in the day.

One of the reasons I will not have a doe killing like we did about 10 years ago is that after the season we had a herd of about 15 orphaned fawns after the season. Only two of them made the winter. Coyotes and starvation got the others.

 

[mtmuley]

Vore was happy. Go figure. mtmuley